


Alternative Arrangement

by Cân Cennau (gwenynnefydd)



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alien Biology, Dubious Consent, Enemies to Lovers, Fuck Or Die, Hate Sex, Kink, M/M, More Dom Than Dukat But Still A Sub!Garak, Penetrative Sex, Plot takes a back seat to the porn here, Porn with Feelings, Rough Sex, Sub!Dukat, Threat of Strangulation, Toxic Pollen, fighting as flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 08:04:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16828504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenynnefydd/pseuds/C%C3%A2n%20Cennau
Summary: Dukat has gotten into the habit of gatecrashing the Deep Space Nine crew. This time, Dukat's gatecrashing will permanently alter his relationship with Garak.





	Alternative Arrangement

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CastellanGarak](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastellanGarak/gifts).



> got this finished, finally! \o/ thankfully i'm doing a lot better and can now write Dukat without wanting to yeet myself into the sun. i hope you enjoy this!

It had started as an ordinary mission. Deep Space Nine needed new parts, and Starfleet had tracked an abandoned mining complex not far from the Bajoran capital that could possibly hold what they needed. Garak had been roped into the mission due to his Cardassian knowledge - surprising, considering that the last time Garak was invited onto a Cardassian station he’d ended up killing two people. Perhaps that was the reason Chief O’Brien had been accompanied by Lieutenant Dax and Major Nerys, as well as a contingent of security officers. But even the extra security had not stopped an unwanted interloper - Gul Dukat had somehow managed to figure out where they were headed, and had insisted, as a “high ranking Cardassian representative” that he accompany them. And that was how Gul Dukat was now trailing their group, talking _incessantly_.

“Really,” he was saying, as they passed by yet another room overtaken by Bajoran plantlife. “I really can’t understand why you left a perfectly good mining facility to get _this_ damaged.”

“Perhaps we didn’t fancy keeping our own people as slaves,” Kira deadpanned. “And besides, this was abandoned before the withdrawal. Hence why it’s so… dilapidated.”

“It was probably an unproductive station.” Dukat sighed. “If only your people had worked _harder…_ ”

Kira looked as if she was about to throttle Dukat there and then, but Dax pushed her forward, further down the corridor. Dukat tried to share a look of outrage with Garak, but Garak had no sympathy for him - rather, he was disappointed that the Major _hadn’t_ picked a fight. They kept moving, and reached a crossroads in the corridor. The path straight ahead had collapsed, and was now the home to a rather large bush, with bright pink budding flowers. The left and right turns lead deeper into the complex, but there was no need to go that far - with a happy sound, Kira reached up, and pulled at something attached to the wall.

“Here - this monitor! This will have the plasma circuits we need, right?”

“I think so.” Dax ran her tricorder over it. “Certainly looks like it. Garak, anything we should be concerned about taking this thing down?”

“Only the security alarms that might sound if you take it down.” Garak replied. “But given the power’s out…”

“Perhaps _I_ should remove the monitor.” Dukat said, magnanimous in that smug way of his. “I wouldn’t want to any of you to be hurt.”

“We’re good, thanks.” Kira answered immediately. “Dax, could you get a sonic spanner on that corner?”

“Already on it.” 

“I really must insist-” Dukat made forward as if to move the two women aside, but Garak saw him coming. He quickly stepped between them, ostentatiously to examine a bulkhead. He heard Dukat sigh behind him, and he smirked to himself. Garak knew that if Dukat were to get involved with helping, none of them would ever hear the last of it.

“That’s not going to work.” Dukat groused, deprived of his opportunity to be the hero.

“It will,” Kira flatly replied. “It’s coming now - Garak, take that corner-”

The monitor was heavy, but Garak easily hefted it into his arms as it came away from the wall. He steadied himself, and turned to take it away, but Dukat was much closer than he’d anticipated. The corner of the monitor hit Dukat squarely in the chest, and Dukat was pushed off balance. Dukat’s eyes widened, and he tried to wave his arms to keep balance, but to no avail - with comic slowness, Dukat fell backwards into the bright pink blooms of the bush in the corridor.

“Garak!”

“Oh dear,” Garak remarked, not sorry at all. “You really should not have stood so close.”

Dukat flailed in the bush. “That _hurt_.” he yowled. “Were you _trying_ to kill me?”

“Oh please, as if pushing you into the bush would _kill_ you-”

“Perhaps it’s _toxic_ -”

“Dukat,” Kira sighed, looking as if she regretted bringing either of them along. “You’re not that injured. Get out of the bush, and lets get this thing back to the _Rio Grande_.”

Dukat looked quite put out that his melodrama hadn’t been appreciated, but with a grumble he began to work his way out of the bush Garak had thrown him in. Kira, Garak and Dax moved away along the corridor, up over the lip of the slope, letting Dukat find his own way out of the bush. But as they turned to head towards the docking station, a sudden hissing sound drew their attention back to the bush. Dukat was sat upright now, but the air above him was rapidly filling with some kind of gas or pollen emanating from the blooms, colouring the air above him a pale pink.

“Oh,” Dukat exclaimed, looking quite surprised at the sudden appearance of pollen. “I didn’t know it did that.”

And then, very neatly, Dukat toppled sideways into unconsciousness.

BREAK

Really, Garak did not understand why everyone was so fussed about Gul Dukat. _Sure,_ Garak had pushed him into a bush, and _sure,_ it turned out that the bush was in fact highly toxic, but it really didn’t explain all the running about and worrying the senior staff were currently doing. Odo had warned him that if Dukat died, he could be facing a murder charge (not a new situation for him), and Sisko had attempted to explain that the death of a revered leader on Cardassia would cause a crisis (also not a new situation). Major Kira had also lectured him on his behaviour, but it was half-hearted, and Garak could read the slightly impressed tone she’d hidden under her lecture. 

Doctor Bashir had been the most irritatingly concerned. He immediately whisked Dukat away to the medical bay, and interrogated Garak on the details of the plant, before running out again and leaving Garak alone. He hadn’t even run Garak over with a tricorder - he’d just left Garak to return to his shop, clean off the pollen as best as he could, and hope that he too wouldn’t succumb to the same illness that had claimed Dukat. But it was now evening, his shop was closed, and Bashir had been working far too long at finding the antidote to Dukat's predicament, Garak thought. Far too long. Due to the situation, Bashir had missed their usual lunch date, and hadn't replied to any of his messages. That _şzec_ didn't deserve all that attention, and so Garak made his way to the medbay to relieve the good doctor from his burdensome load. 

“Garak,” Julian greeted, head staring down the eyepiece of a microscope. “I got your messages-” 

“And you deigned not to reply.” Garak leaned against Bashir's workstation. “I should be offended. You've been working on Gul Dukat's antidote for far too long.”

“Well, if I don't work on it, he dies.” Bashir straightened with a grimace. “As much as I don't like him, I can't let him die.”

“You could. Think of it as sacrifice. The death of Gul Dukat for the sanity of everyone aboard.” 

“Garak, _no._ I can't.”

“Why not?”

“Not only does Starfleet not look too kindly on sacrifice, they also won't look kindly on me letting a patient die when I know how to cure him.” 

Garak blinked. “You found an antidote?” 

“Mm.” 

“Then why, pray tell, are you still _here?”_

“Because I'm trying to find another. The current antidote is… not nice. I don't like it. You're _certainly_ not going to like it.”

The wording of that statement made Garak pause. “ _I_ won't like it? What does this have to do with _me?”_

Bashir sighed. “You know Cardassians are fairly resistant to poison?” 

“It's a rather useful trait.” 

“Yes, well, Dukat's body has the constituent parts to fend off the poison, but not in the right… places.”

Garak could feel something ominous creeping up on him. “What… parts?”

“He needs the messenger molecules produced during orgasm, and proteins from Cardassian ejaculate.”

“Those don't seem too hard to get - I’m certain Gul Dukat would provide both with _pleasure_.” 

“It's not the difficulty in extracting them - it's that I don't have _time_ to synthesise an antidote from it. If Dukat is going to survive, then… well… I'm going to need another Cardassian to… _induce_ the required biology.”

And very suddenly, Garak realised exactly what Doctor Bashir was asking of him. 

“No.” he said. “ _No_. Absolutely not.” 

“Garak…”

“I _refuse,_ Doctor. I _will_ not copulate with _him_.”

“He will die without it, Garak.”

“I don’t _care._ Given what he’s done in his life, perhaps his death will be a blessing.”

Bashir sighed. “I don’t doubt he’s done terrible things in his life. But isn’t it worth keeping him alive so he can face justice?”

Garak snorted. “Justice? Ridiculous. Central Command would never hand him over to Bajor.”

“But _we_ can. The Federation.” He leant back against the work surface, and watched Garak carefully. “Think about it - he’s under our care, trapped on a Federation space station. When he’s well, Bajor will request his extradition. Central Command would have no power to remove him.”

Garak tilted his head. He had not considered the possibility of entrapping the man, and even the distasteful thought of _fucking_ him paled with the consideration of all the political leverage he could have in return. He felt the tug of a smirk pull at his lips - getting laid _and_ having Gul Dukat owe him? Garak would not have been surprised if he looked at his personal PADD and saw it was his birthday. Certainly, he’d have to perhaps convince his body to engage with _Dukat,_ but with all the possibilities…

“Can I take that slightly terrifying smile as a ‘yes’?” Bashir asked, with a smile of his own. Garak gave him a look.

“My _dear_ doctor,” he replied. “I don’t think you quite understand what you’ve given me.”

BREAK

Dukat had been moved to the privacy of spare quarters for the antidote - Garak had flatly refused to host him in his own quarters. Surprisingly, it had not taken Doctor Bashir long to convince Dukat to engage with this treatment - Garak supposed that someone with Dukat’s ego would be willing to do anything to avoid death, including allowing his mortal enemy to copulate with him. Within an hour of the meeting in the medbay, Garak found himself peering into the gloom of Dukat’s room. The lights were dimmed to their lowest setting, and the room felt distinctly warm, even to Garak’s reptilian body. The bed was in the far corner of the room, and Garak could see the blankets bunched around a shivering form. For a brief few moments, Garak felt some kind of sympathy for Dukat, but that soon faded as soon as the man opened his mouth.

“How desperate must you be for sex that you’d agree to this?” Dukat asked, in that smarmy way of his, and Garak glowered.

“Not as desperate as you,” he snapped back. “Doctor Bashir told me you caved almost immediately.”

“I’m not _desperate-_ ”

“Oh, don’t give me that - you were all _over_ Major Kira.”

Dukat laughed. “Look at you - bullying a sick man? You must be losing your touch.”

“I can always _leave_ , if you’re going to be insulting.”

“No!” Dukat began to frantically backtrack. “No, stay _here_. Doctor Bashir would never forgive you if you left.”

Well, that was true. Garak sighed, and approached the bed, stripping off his clothes as he went. Dukat’s eyes glimmered from his blanket cocoon in the bed, watching him and his body as Garak arrived at the edge of his bed, naked.

“If we’re going to do this,” Garak sighed. “You’re going to have to let me inside your blankets.”

Dukat seemed to consider the suggestion, before reluctantly unwrapping himself and leaving Garak space on the near side of the bed. Garak climbed in and, in a fit of sympathetic thought, tucked the blankets back around himself to preserve the heat. They stared at each other, both naked and lying mere inches away from each other, waiting for the other to make the next move. Curiously, Garak held the back of his hand to Dukat’s chest spoon, and nearly started at the chill he felt emanating from the other Cardassian’s scales. With a snort, Dukat raised a hand, and weakly tried to push the hand away.

“If you’re trying to arouse me,” Dukat growled. “You’re not doing a very good job.”

“I’m ensuring you don’t die on me mid-coitus.” Garak replied. “You’re not even strong enough to push my hand away, are you certain-”

Dukat answered that for him by surging forward and kissing him. Garak very nearly whipped his head back in horror, but he remembered what needed to be done, and let Dukat kiss him. Dukat, to Garak’s surprise, was a rather good kisser, and Garak had to remind himself that he wasn’t supposed to _enjoy_ it, that he only needed to be aroused enough to cure Dukat. His hands wandered across Dukat’s scales for a little while, exploring new uncharted territory. Dukat’s body felt so very different to his own - all angles and bones, compared to his own softer body. While Dukat was skinny and covered in lean muscle, Garak was openly middle aged, with a round stomach and thick thighs. The differences did not disgust him - rather, his body warmed at the thought of his body overcoming Dukat’s, crushing him with pleasure. Wanting to see and feel more, Garak pulled the duvet back and climbing across the bed, kneeling between Dukat’s waiting legs.

“Pull the duvet back on,” Dukat grumbled. “It’s _cold_.”

“Later,” Garak muttered. “It’ll only get in the way right now.”

Dukat looked as if he was about to protest, but Garak kissed him quiet. Garak’s hand drifted where he knew there were erogenous zones - his neck ridges, his _chula,_ his narrow hips, his _chuva_ , before drifting down to finger the entrance to Dukat’s _ajan_. Dukat had been quiet during his initial ministrations, but at the sensation of thick fingers pressing into his warmth, he arched off the bed with an aroused whine. Garak bent down to bite and kiss at Dukat’s neck ridges, nibbling at the oversensitive third scale, encouraging Dukat’s arousal to bloom between them. Dukat tipped his head back, groaning, allowing Garak all the space to bite and kiss along his neck. Garak’s own groin was warm and wet with arousal, even without being touched, and Garak spread his knees apart in anticipation of his own evertion. 

“You’re a desperate little thing, aren’t you?” Garak murmured in Dukat’s ear, but Dukat did not seem to care for the jibe, instead grinding down on Garak’s fingers with an incomprehensible groan. Garak could feel Dukat’s arousal dripping off his fingers, and he twisted slightly to brush the underside of Dukat’s sheathed _prUt_. That seemed to be all that Dukat wanted, and with several needy whines, Dukat rutted against Garak’s fingers , wanton and desperate for pleasure, until his _prUt_ everted with a gush of fluid. It was slightly smaller than Garak’s own, and Garak made a smug mental note to tease Dukat about it later. But for now, he leaned back to sit properly on his knees, and pressed two fingers inside himself, Dukat’s heated gaze watching him as Garak fingered himself to evertion.

They both shifted a little for comfort, but before lon, Garak was pressing into Dukat, the heat creating enough pleasure to draw a groan from him. Beneath him, Dukat squirmed around Garak’s hardness, murmuring, hands reaching up to fist in the pillow behind his head. Within a few moments, Garak was fully seated inside him, and began to move his hips, thrusting and twisting to create the most pleasure. He made certain that Dukat’s _prUt_ sat snuggly between his belly and Dukat’s _chuva_ , so that it was stimulated with each movement. Dukat was now much more vocal, babbling aroused nonsense as Garak moved inside him, writhing and whining with every thrust. Garak himself could feel his own arousal building at the heated words, getting dark pleasure from having Dukat so wanton beneath him, his _prUt_ almost pulsing with pleasure as Dukat’s warmth worked it each time he pressed deep. He quickly built up a rhythm of thrusts and writhes, listening to Dukat, hearing his vocalizations, and adjusting when needed.

It only took a few minutes for Garak to begin to feel his orgasm building deep beneath his spine, and he moved one of his hands to jerk at Dukat’s weeping _prUt._ Dukat’s eyes rolled back into his head at the sensation, whining, and Garak moved ever faster, wanting to see the other man orgasm first. Both of them panted and whined and groaned, neither wanting to be the first, but in their desperation, it could not last. Dukat wriggled and writhed hard, wanting his orgasm, nearly begging for it, until with a sharp shout, Garak felt Dukat’s _ajan_ clench around him, and Dukat’s prUt sprayed white spunk up both of their stomachs. Garak fucked him hard through his orgasm, until his own orgasm overwhelmed him, and he came hard, shuddering and shaking as his _prUt_ spat his own seed deep into Dukat’s warmth.

After a few moments, Garak slid out of Dukat, and rolled over to flump into the bed with a grunt. The room seemed oddly quiet, now that their pleasures had been spent, and Garak turned to look at Dukat. The encounter must have taken much more out of him than expected - his eyes were closed, and he did not respond when Garak called his name. Garak feared the sickness had finally taken a hold, and Dukat was dying, but soon Dukat began snoring. Just asleep. Garak willed for his pulse to stop racing, but there was nothing he could do to stop the very sudden feeling of concern that had taken root. Garak had intended on leaving Dukat as soon as the deed was done, but if Dukat were to die after he left...

 _Well,_ Garak thought, _I’d best stay and ensure he doesn’t die in his sleep_.

And with that, Garak pulled the duvet up over their bodies, and fell asleep.

BREAK

Garak woke up slowly, the soft warmth of the room making him drowsy and slightly confused. He slowly looked around the room - it was not his own, and there were no knick-knacks or personal belongings that could be used to recognize it by. His memories, slow and sluggish, dripped into his head - there had been a mission, pollen, Doctor Bashir, Dukat getting ill, them coupling… He turned his head, and sure enough, Gul Dukat was still there, attempting to snuggle into his armpit. He was still breathing, and looked much better than the sallow man Garak had slept with last night, which Garak assumed he should be pleased about. Garak thought briefly about dislodging him, and returning fairly hurriedly to his own quarters, but something stopped him. A _feeling_ stopped him.

Dukat looked rather… _cute,_ lying beside him, snuffling and snoring into the covers., and Garak felt an unusual sense of _loathing_ about disturbing his slumber. The normal arrogant smile was gone, instead replaced with soft lines as slack lips. Seeing this kind of gentleness would’ve normally sent Garak’s mind reeling at the possibility of killing the other man and getting rid of him for good, but this morning it only seemed to… calm him. Pacify him. Make him feel several warm fuzzy emotions that very much Did Not Belong inside him, and especially had no reasons to be coming out in the face of Gul Dukat. Where had they come from? Garak stared down at Dukat, considering, thinking...

Oh no.

Dukat must have passed that damnable sickness onto _him._

Whatever loathing Garak had felt about waking the other man vanished, and he roughly shook Dukat’s shoulder. Dukat, to Garak’s amusement, nearly jumped out of the bed in fright, but he soon composed himself, and looked around. He came to Garak lying in his bed fairly quickly, and his face morphed into an exaggerated expression of outrage.

“Garak! What are you doing in my bed?”

“Was I that bad a shag?” Garak asked. “I didn’t expect to be forgotten that quickly.”

“You’re in my bed. _Still_ in my bed. You didn’t _leave._ ”

“Doctor Bashir entrusted me with your care. Your care involved making certain you didn’t die during the night. So I stayed.”

“That’s very _touching._ But you can leave now. I’m awake, and alive, and in full health.”

“Ah, but you see, we’re not entirely done.”

“No?”

Garak pretended to examine his fingernails. “You see, the illness you had was rather… communicable.”

Dukat thought for a moment, before his mouth curved into a slight smile. “Oh. _Oh._ ”

“Indeed. You should now be immune to the disease, so if you could cure me before I leave…”

“Oh, no. No, I don’t think so.”

Dukat rolled out of the bed and began finding his clothes. Garak scowled, his anger bubbling in his stomach. “Dukat…”

“Do you really think I’ll willingly _fuck_ you?” Dukat found his trousers, and began pulling them on. “You perhaps have a soft spot for Doctor Bashir, that allowed you to be _manipulated_ , but I do not have one.”

“Dukat, I’m warning you…”

“ _Warning_ me?” Trousers on, Dukat inspected his undershirt. “Of what? You’re an _exile_. Me leaving you to die will have no impact. Cardassia might actually thank me for ensuring your death.”

Oh, that _ass_. Garak wanted to strangle him.

“Well,” Garak murmured. “I hope you enjoy your brief sense of superiority. I’m certain Security will enjoy knocking your ego, since they’ll arrest you the moment you step out the door.”

That made Dukat pause, halfway into his shirt. “Why would I be arrested? _I_ wasn’t the one who nearly _killed_ a visiting dignitary.”

“Oh, Gul _Dukat_ ,” Garak laughed, a smile creeping onto his face. “Did you really think Bajor would allow you to stay on the station for any length of time _without_ attempting to hold you accountable for what you did as Prefect of Bajor?”

“I only strived to _help_ Bajor-” Dukat’s voice was haughty, but Garak shook his head and interrupted.

“Bajor does not see it that way - and neither does the Federation. You take one step outside this room, and Starfleet will grant the extradition request Bajor has surely filed.”

Within a few seconds, Dukat went from smug to furious. This was not the kind of exaggerated outrage that he manufactured for an external audience, this was a deep anger at being challenged. Garak found it rather… arousing, although that was perhaps the pollen. Or maybe it was something more - Garak had always seeked this kind of anger from Dukat, perhaps it was...

“Damn you.” Dukat finally growled. “Damn _you_. I might as well leave you to _die_ here-”

“Ah, but won’t that look worse to the Federation? Not only are you responsible for the harm of thousands of Bajorans, but you also let a Federation resident _die_ from negligence in your care.” Elim settled back into the pillows with a self-satisfied smile. “Not even Cardassia can get you out of that.”

The look Dukat gave him nearly convinced Garak that he was about to be murdered. Dukat stalked towards him, face like thunder, but instead of striking at Garak, he climbed on top of him. Garak suddenly found his mouth claimed as Dukat crushed his lips to his, and his smile broadened. Dukat clearly did not appreciate his humour, and bit at his lips, teeth and tongue, until they stung with bruising. Garak gave as good as he got, but Dukat’s position on top of him meant he was limited in what he could do. With a grunt, he shifted his weight, forcing Dukat to fall in an ungainly mass of limbs on the bed. Quick as a flash, Garak climbed on top of him and pinned him to the bed.

“Garak!” Dukat complained. “Get off me-”

“No, I don’t think so.” Garak replied. “You’re not going to _plough_ me like an animal. You’re staying underneath me.”

Dukat scowled, but the aroused flush that adorned his cheeks and neckridges told Garak that he wouldn’t be complaining for long. Garak kissed him again, hard and fast, before moving down to fuss at his neckridges. He pulled Dukat’s undershirt out of the way, and pressed biting kisses and sucks along the entire length, until Dukat’s complaints faded away into moans and whines. With one hand, he slid his hand up Dukat’s undershirt to the sensitive _chula,_ pressing into it and rubbing the edges, feeling the vibration of Dukat’s groan before hearing it. Dukat in return had his hands on Garak’s hips, rubbing and pinching his hip ridges, before sliding down to squeeze and press Garak’s plush arse. His long fingers slid down the crevice, easily finding the entrance to his _ajan,_ and pressing just the fingertips inside. Garak grunted and wriggled a little, wanting more inside him yet knowing he was going to have to move to allow Dukat to press deeper.

Dukat watched him with some interest as Garak neatly turned around, still straddling him but now with his arse pointed at his face. With deft hands, Garak removed Dukat’s trousers and threw them somewhere across the room, revealing the soft scale of Dukat’s inner thighs. As Garak scratched his nails across the new surface, he could feel Dukat behind him pressing fingers into his warmth. He pushed back against the fingers, now being rewarded with a deeper sensation, and he groaned, nails digging into Dukat’s thighs. The pleasure building in his _ajan_ nearly distracted him from what he was doing on Dukat’s thighs and groin, but he let his hands roam and pinch and scratch at Dukat’s thighs, before pressing his fingers up and into Dukat’s _ajan._

With both of them fingering each other, it did not take long for either of them to evert. Garak everted first, groaning as his _prUt_ slid out into Dukat’s waiting palm. Dukat stroked it, hand easily gliding along its slick surface as Garak fingered him. When Dukat finally everted with a moan, Garak took barely any time in turning back around to face him. With one hand carefully guiding Dukat’s _prUt,_ Garak lowered himself onto Dukat’s hardness, sighing as he stretched around it. It only took him a few moments to bottom out and settle, before he began to grind down and rut against Dukat’s _prUt_. Dukat’s eyes fluttered shut, and he whined as Garak worked his hardness, Dukat’s hands coming up to grip Garak’s hip ridges with an almost painful grip. Garak’s _prUt_ lay trapped between Garak’s rounded belly and Dukat’s taught stomach, the heat growing between them creating the most delicious against it. 

They moved together for a few minutes, pleasure building, the volume of their vocalisations increasing, before Dukat began to indicate a desire to move. He wriggled beneath him, curled up and attempted to shift Garak’s hefty bulk, but Garak was having none of it. By virtue of being the larger Cardassian, Garak easily dislodged Dukat’s hands from his waist, knocking Dukat back onto the bed. Heavily flushed, Dukat tried to sit up, opening his mouth to complain, but Garak simply leant forward and pressed a hand to Dukat’s throat, pinning him to the bed. From his new position, Garak could now rock on Dukat’s _prUt_ , could almost bounce on it, to seek his release. Beneath him, Dukat froze with shock at the hand on his throat and the new movement against his hardness, but it only took a few thrusts before Garak saw Dukat’s eyes roll back as he began to orgasm. Garak rocked through it, his own _prUt_ dripping between their enjoined stomachs, before he too felt his orgasm rock through his body.

As Garak’s _prUt_ dribbled spunk between their scales, his movement slowed, and within a few moments, he rolled off the other Cardassian to lie down and catch his breath. The two of them lay together, resting, the silence slightly awkward. The warm fuzzy feelings Garak had felt earlier were still there, and Garak began to suspect that perhaps they weren’t the aftereffects of pollen after all. Seeing Dukat at his weakest perhaps inspired some rather protective feelings inside him, feelings that were rather alien but incredibly insistent. And their coupling hadn’t been half bad - Dukat’s snideness had spiked his anger and his arousal, and Garak supposed given Dukat’s reactions that their banter did the same to him.

Well, Preloc always said there was a fine line between fighting and flirting.

“There isn’t any Security outside, is there?” Dukat finally asked, and Garak nearly laughed.

“I have no idea.” he replied. “Doctor Bashir implied there might be, but honestly I don’t know.”

“Crafty.” Dukat’s tone was almost… affectionate? “I should leave, then.”

The warm fuzzies in Garak’s chest protested very loudly at the thought. “Do you want to take the chance?”

Dukat looked at him, and in his eyes Garak saw some conflict. There was an unspoken question here, an asking of companionship that extended beyond the boundaries of pollen-counteracting. An… alternative arrangement. In the softness of post-orgasm bliss, Dukat did not react to it snidely, but seemed to consider the offer.

“I think I might stay.” Dukat murmured finally. “Just in case.”

BREAK

“So you’re telling me you stayed with Dukat all of last night, and then he just _vanished?_ ”

Garak sat in Captain Sisko’s office, prim and unruffled. The same could not be said for Captain Sisko, who’s frustration was easily palpable. Also in the room was Odo, looking dour and bland as he always did, and Major Kira, who just looked furious. And they had a right to be - Dukat had escaped right from under their noses. Odo had found Garak alone in the spare quarters two days after the pollen incident, slightly disoriented but undamaged. Bajor had in fact requested Dukat’s extradition, but given that Dukat had left the station, the Bajoran government now had to face down Cardassia’s formidable foreign office in order to get him back. This was a state of affairs that both Starfleet and Bajor were distinctly angry about.

“That’s what I’m saying, Captain.” Garak replied airily. “I administered his cure, stayed to ensure it worked, and then one day I woke up and he was _gone._ ”

“Security was called away from his quarters yesterday evening.” Odo added. “A reported security breach, which later turned out to be false.”

“And you knew nothing about that, did you Garak?” Major Kira growled. “A breach that just so happened to draw the security detail away from where you and Dukat were-”

“I don’t know what you’re implying, Major.” Garak interrupted, feigning shock. “Why would _I_ assist in Gul Dukat’s escape?”

“You’ve made it very clear you’ve wanted to return to Cardassia. Perhaps Dukat offered you a pardon.”

“What happened to innocent unless proven guilty?”

“He’s right, Major,” Sisko interrupted, easily forseeing the argument. “We don’t have evidence anyone else was involved except Gul Dukat.”

“And I didn’t see anything.” Garak added. “He must have slipped out while I was asleep.”

“Hmph.” Odo eyed him critically. “Well, seeing as there is nothing to disprove that…”

Sisko too eyed him with some suspicion, but then he nodded curtly. “You may go, Mister Garak.”

Garak rose and left with a respectful nod. As the door closed behind him, he could here Kira’s voice shouting, and he laughed softly. As he entered the Habitat ring, the PADD in his pocket pinged, and he checked it. A message from Dukat, his now new partner-cum-paramour, along with an image. Garak’s eyeridges rose as he opened the image, heat and arousal coiling in his belly - this was perhaps an image best enjoyed in private. Garak nearly whistled as he returned to his own quarters, barely glancing at the codepad on his door as he admired the image sent to him.

An alternative arrangement, indeed.


End file.
